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empanadas
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Empanadas

Yields 12 large empanadas or 24 mini empanadas
Course Appetizer, Main Course, Snack
Cuisine Spanish
Keyword beef, pastry
Total Time 1 hour 30 minutes
Servings 12
Author Christine Ma

Ingredients

Dough

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • ¼ cup lard
  • ¼ cup butter cut into small pieces and chilled
  • 2 large eggs lightly beaten
  • ¼ cup dry white wine
  • 1 teaspoon distilled white vinegar

Filling

  • ¼ lb ground beef
  • ½ cup onion finely diced
  • 1 garlic clove minced
  • ¼ cup diced red bell pepper
  • ¼ cup diced canned tomato
  • ½ tablespoon tomato paste
  • 1 teaspoon chili powder
  • ½ teaspoon turmeric
  • ½ teaspoon paprika
  • ¼ cup chicken stock
  • salt and freshly ground pepper
  • 2 tablespoon chopped cilantro
  • egg wash 1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon milk

Instructions

  • In a food processor, pulse flour with salt, lard, and butter until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Add the eggs, white wine, and vinegar and pulse just until the dough comes together. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for 1 hour.
  • Meanwhile, prepare the filling. Heat a large saute pan over medium heat. Add ground beef and saute until browned, breaking up the meat. Add the onion, garlic, and bell pepper and saute until vegetables have softened, about 5 minutes. Add the tomato, tomato paste, chili powder, turmeric, and paprika and stir to mix. Add the chicken stock and cook until almost all the liquid has evaporated. Season with salt and pepper and stir in chopped cilantro. Let cool completely.
  • Dust work counter with flour and roll out the dough to ⅛-inch thickness. Use a 3-inch biscuit cutter ( for mini empanadas) or 5-inch biscuit cutter (for large empanadas) to cut rounds out of the dough. Reroll the dough scraps and cut out as many additional rounds as possible.
  • Spoon 2 teaspoons of the filling into the center of the round for small empanadas and ¼ cup filling for large empanadas. Fold the dough over and pinch the edges to seal closed. Use a fork to crimp the edges. Repeat with the remaining dough.
  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  • Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Brush egg wash on the empanadas and lay empanadas on the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from the oven and serve.